Focusing on high-density lipoprotein for coronary heart disease risk reduction

A low level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) is an acknowledged risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) exerts its primary cardioprotective effect through a reverse cholesterol transport process, and suppression of this process has been the focus of the development of novel therapeutic agents for increasing HDL-C levels. Several strategies can be used to increase HDL-C levels to target cardiovascular risk reduction. This article presents a review of the biologic actions of HDL that can serve as a potential basis for antiatherosclerotic activity and discusses strategies for targeting HDL for CHD risk reduction.